Talking about medical myths

There is a lot of talk out there about vaccines and how some are bad for you and others do not work or some cause other diseases, but an area expert is stopping those myths.

The University of Minnesota – Rochester brought in a Mayo Clinic expert for their weekly “UMR Connects” event.

You or someone you know has probably said that getting the flu shot has caused them to be sick. He talked about the fact that there is no flu virus in the flu shot so it is not possible to get the flu because of it.

He said there is also plenty of research that shows that the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine does not lead to Autism.

He said a lot of anti-vaccine platforms do not say that.

“Some of it’s good information and a lot of it’s not good information, so in my mind, it’s up to scientists and physicians and public health officials and the experts that do have the correct information, it’s our duty to get out there and engage with the public,” said Dr. Rick Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mayo.

Some are going with no vaccines at all.

“Getting the natural disease, this natural immunity somehow better than getting a vaccine. It goes back to this it’s natural, it’s normal and it’s not man-made, you’re not injecting something into you that’s foreign. That’s simply not the case,” Kennedy said.

He said the goal of this is to help people make informed decisions for themselves after he shows them research data and statistics.